


L'aura è tua messaggera

by Rosyredlipstick



Series: AU Solangelo Fic [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, AU: 'I got cursed to speak a foreign language only you seem to know', Camp Half-Blood, Demigods, M/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-03-10 17:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3298793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosyredlipstick/pseuds/Rosyredlipstick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: 'I got cursed to speak a foreign language that only you seem to know and now I need a translator until it's fixed'<br/>Or, how the Stoll Brothers accidentally got Nico di Angelo and Will Solace together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. e tu de l'aura Ch'ogni arso cor ristaura.

**Author's Note:**

> Third work in my AU Series. I know that this isn't exactly their first meeting, but they hardly know each other so I'm going to go with it. Also, I understand that Chiron is probably fluent in Italian but for the sake of this small story, let's take a moment to forget that. 8) 
> 
> The title and the excerpt is from ‘Ecco Mormorar L'onde’, an Italian poem by Torquato Tasso.

__L'aura è tua messaggera, e tu de l'aura  
Ch'ogni arso cor ristaura._ _

  _-_

_The breeze is your messenger, and you the breeze's  
Which revives each burnt-out heart._

Will coughed his way through another one of the Stoll Brothers surprise smoke bombs, his mind rushing with every single thing he was going to do to them once he finished ushering his siblings out of their smoking building. Didn’t they know that Robin had asthma? And Avery had weak lungs? He coughed again, holding his sleeve over his mouth and starting to wave his hand back and forth through the thick smoke. He pushed another one of his brothers out of the door before walking throughout the cabin again. As far as he could tell, every bunk bed was empty, every corner was unoccupied, and the room was free of any hiding younger kids. But just as he was just beginning to start to leave suddenly another bomb was flung through the open windows. It ignited and flashed a bright…purple? Before exploding and letting off a new stream of smoke.

Will stumbled out, his eyes watering from the smoke, knowing that even though the Stoll Brothers were no-good, tricky, Hermes’s kids, they would never purposely hurt him. Will fell into a wall and began feeling his way to the door, mostly by memory at this point. Purple smoke curled around is arms in a way the regular gray fog hadn’t dared.

They wouldn’t hurt him…right?

He finally managed to find the doorway and fell through it onto the sharp gravel at the foot of the stairs. He groaned, mostly at the surprise of falling, and coughed the rest of the smoke out of his lungs before flipping himself up to face his array of siblings gathered around him. His brothers and sisters stood in a nervous half-circle, with an assortment of other campers who stopped to watch the excitement. In the middle of the gathering campers sat the Stoll Brothers, back to back, with flower veins curled around their wrists and ankles that were effectively binding them to the ground. A few feet away Katie Gardner glared at the boys, tightening the veins with a flick of her hands every few moments.

“Will!” His brother, Lucas, yelled, grabbing his shoulders and lifting him to his feet. Will swayed a bit, more likely from his fall then from smoke inhalation, and took his brothers offered shoulder.

“Robin? Avery?” Will asked, taking a deep breath. His voice was full of cotton and tongue rolls he didn’t even mean to make. He began running the side effects of smoke inhalation through his mind. 

_Hoarseness or noisy breathing_

“They’re fine, they’re both fine.” Lucas answered, shooting him a concerned look.

_Shortness of breath_

“Robin’s at the infirmary right now, just in case.” His sister told him, squeezing his shoulder. He nodded gratefully.

_Excessive Coughing_

“How are you feeling, Will? Are you okay? You were in there for awhile.”

_Headache_

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.” He told them, except it didn’t come out that way. It came out in a scramble of vowels and accents and weird sounds at odd and even angles.

His siblings stared at him with wide eyes. Will tried again – was talking gibberish another side effect?!  

“I’m fine.” The words, again, were garbled but fine sounding.

That’s when the Stoll Brothers burst out laughing.

“It worked!” Connor yelled loudly through his laughter, throwing his head back. Travis gave Will a wide, delighted look. Distant cheers – from the direction of the Hermes cabin? – were heard.

“What worked?” Will yelled, the words coming out smoothly in a language not his own. Travis and Connor continued their symphony of laughter, watching Will joyfully. Will yelled at them, mostly curse words at this point, that no one seemed to understand. He succeeded only in earning more concerned looks from his siblings.

“We’re going to see Chiron.” Lucas announced, grabbing Will’s shoulders and steering him in the direction of the Big House.

-

“A simple curse.” Chiron concluded after a few mere minutes of examining. He scrawled on a pad of paper before looking up and cocking his head to the side, “Actually, a little advanced for the Stoll Brothers. I might have to check on them soon.”

Will cursed, a stream of foreign words falling out of his mouth that only he seemed to understand. Chiron shot him a sympathetic look before turning to the satyr at his side, “Roan, please go fetch Nico di Angelo. It seems we’ll be needing his assistance.” 

“Nico di Angelo?” Will questioned, his words laced with a heavy accent. The satyr – Roan - nodded before running out the door at top speed.

Chiron nodded, “I fear it had been many years since I have practiced this particular language. And by the sound of your creative curse words, that Nico is more than fluent in, you two will get on well, I think.”

He laughed at Will’s wide-eyed look before continuing, “Do you know Nico well?”

Will could only shake his head, wanting to elaborate but settling for only a shrug. He ignored his fluttering heart in favor of a more nonchalance exterior. He didn’t dislike Nico or anything – it’s just that he hardly knew the younger boy. He’s only spoken to Nico once or twice on the occasions that Jason or Hazel have literally dragged him into Will’s infirmary. An even then he was sour and slightly aggressive towards the idea of accepting Will’s help.

It was then when Roan came running back into the room. He beamed at Chrion and a few seconds later, walking slowly behind, a scowling teenage boy came into view. The infamous Nico di Angelo, Will bit his lip and looked away. The boy was damn near unrecognizable when he wasn’t bleeding out, fading away, or suffering from whatever kind of life threatening injury that heroes were drawn to like magnets.

“You rang?” Nico drawled out, ignoring Will in favor for Chiron. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight, looking annoyed.

Chiron nodded, “It seems that, courtesy of the Stoll Brothers, one of our campers has been cursed with a language barrier.”

Will nodded glumly, “No one can understand what I’m saying.”

Chiron nodded sympathetically before turning to Nico. “I have absolutely no idea what he is saying.”  

Nico didn’t even looked shocked, a little surprised _maybe_ but simply shrugged like he dealt with these kinds of curses every day. Nico unfolded his arms; his interest peeked and asked, “What kind of curse are you dealing with anyways?”

Chiron gestured to a chair, “Sit down Mr. di Angelo, I will explain.”

-

An hour later Nico and Will were finally stepping out of the Big House, both with strict instructions not to leave each other sides until a more convenient solution could be figured out.

“You will need to stay together until we can break this curse.” Chiron had told them both, holding up a hand before either of them could protest. “With the help of the Hecate children we should be able to clean this mess up in a few days. Any more questions?”

Neither of them had any questions, but both of their expressions got exceptionally more sour.

It’s not that Will had anything against Nico – he just wasn’t the best conservationist and they happened to have nearly almost nothing in common. There was also the fact that Will had to keep looking away to calm himself down, which did nothing for the whole ‘don’t be a jackass to me’ vibe Will was trying to keep up.

Nico huffed out a laugh beside him, pulling Will out of his thoughts. He almost looked over in concern at the surprising noise coming out of him before he noticed what sat on the Big House steps.

“What’s wrong with you two?” Will asked. The Stoll Brothers shot him twin looks of equal disdain, confusion, and annoyance.

Nico rolled his eyes before translating, “He wants to know what’s up.”

Travis shook his head, “Stupid Demeter girls. They have us trapped here until Chiron claims us.”

“The grass will grab us if we try to run!” Connor told them in an unbelieving voice, demonstrating as he held a finger over the grass. Just as he said, blades of grass stretched out and curled around his pinky, pulling down with more force then Will would have expected.

Will laughed loudly and flicked them off, thankful that at least those actions couldn’t get lost in translation. He couldn’t wait to hear of whatever punishment Chiron had in store for them.

Travis rolled his eyes in annoyance before returning the offensive gesture. Connor - too distracted on the task of freeing his pinky finger - didn’t even notice Will walking away.  He kicked off the cabin steps, Nico right behind him, smiling at the brothers watching them in envy as no grass attacked their ankles.

“So, a few days?” Will remarked as they walked away, his words not his own as they curled around a new language. Nico shrugged, keeping his head down.

Will resisted the urge to huff or sigh but instead tried a new approach. “How do you know Italian?”

Nico shrugged, “I lived in Italy when I was a kid.”

Will stayed quiet for a few moments, wondering if he was going to elaborate but apparently not. How was he going to spend a few hours with this guy, let alone a few days? They walked in awkward silence and by the time they reached the cabins Will was downright antsy.

“I’m gonna -” Will threw his thumb over his shoulder. “My cabin. I need to make sure everyone’s okay.”

Nico nodded, and Will’s brain decided to notice how long Nico’s hair had gotten. It was as dark as ink, almost long enough to touch his shoulders. The boy had always had longer hair – he remembered his sister – Hazel? – insisting upon a haircut last time Nico was bound to his infirmary for an extended stay.

“I’ll see you at dinner.” Nico ran his fingers along the seam of his shirt, sounding as if he was choosing his words carefully. “Chiron will want to make sure we’re not splitting up.”

Will nodded and waited until Nico was turned away and gone before walking up to the nearest cabin – Iris – and banging his head multiple times on the hard wall.

It just _had_ to be Nico di Angelo, didn’t it?


	2. Ecco già l'alba appare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, predictably, struggles to cope with the whole idea of his life becoming a real life situation of 'charades' except for the fact he can talk but hardly anyone can understand him.

_E rider l'Oriente;_  
_Ecco già l'alba appare,_

_-_

_And the east smiles;_  
_Now dawn already appears_

 

“A few days.” Will groaned, falling back onto his bed. The mattress gave out a matching groan as his brother joined him. He rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes, “This curse is going to feel like a lot longer than a few days.”

“Dude.” Lucas sighed, “I have no idea what you’re saying.”

Will threw his hands in the air, “How am I suppose to talk to anyone, let alone lead an entire cabin? Or even run an infirmary! _Holy Zeus,_ how am I gonna run my infirmary??”

Will continued to babble on, his tone getting higher and more pitched by the second. Lucas sighed and got up, letting Will talk to himself.  Not that Will would ever admit it, but it was kind of cool to hear his own voice bend around the elegant words.

He was rudely cut off from his babbling as Lucas threw something at him. It landed lightly on his stomach, another object following its arrival.

Will held up the whiteboard and marker, sitting up quickly. Lucas sat across from him, gesturing towards the board. “We got it when Amos got Laryngitis, remember?”

Will nodded, extremely relieved at the potential communication. He wrote quickly ad messy, the marker sliding easily across the smooth surface.

_How am I supposed to run the infirmary??_

Lucas squinted at the board. “Dude, really? That’s what you’re worried about? How about worrying about the fact that you’re basically chained to Death Boy until further notice!”

“Don’t call him that.” Will muttered under his breath, a frown twisting onto his features.

_Not the point. Seriously, how am I going to be head counselor AND head medic without being able to talk?_

He tipped it towards Lucas before wiping it off with his wrist a little harder then strictly necessary.

“It’ll be fine, Will. It’s only for a few days?” Lucas asked, his voice going up at the end. Will nodded.

“Di Angelo can translate for you on the important stuff with head counselor. And the infirmary can last without you for a few days; honestly you’re overdue for a vacation from that place anyways.” Lucas shook his head as Will began to scrawl out his protests. “And truthfully, I don’t know how you can worry about that stuff considering Capture the Flag is in a few hours.”

Will threw the board on the floor and let off a string of curses.

-

“As our cabin leader is…unavailable to lead us on this sunny Friday afternoon I will step in command to lead the Apollo cabin to victory  in this wonderful game of Capture the Flag!”

His siblings cheered at Lucas’s speech and held their weapons up in excitement. A few older kids gave him sympathetic smiles and he tried not to scowl as he turned away.

Apollo would most defiantly be going against the Hermes cabin this round. And with Lucas dating an Athena girl they had the strong support of them and a few others.

And, as it turns out, the Hades cabin.

“You’re playing?” Will had blurted out in surprise at Nico’s arrival.

“You’re going to need a translator, aren’t you?” He had grumbled under his breath with a scowl. He looked awfully out of place in his black-on-black ensemble while his cabin mates ran around in different variations of green and brown camouflage.

Will watched him for a few moments and enjoyed the way the afternoon sun danced across his skin before looking away.  

“I’ve never seen you play.” Will broke the silence and rubbed the edge of his sneaker in the dirt. He, unlike the rest of his team, was dressed in regular jeans and his camp shirt. His team had decided to put him on exceptionally boring job of guarding the flag because, as Lucas had put it, ‘You can’t screw that up by not speaking the frickin language.’

Nico shrugged and continued to glare at his feet, “Never wanted to play.”

Will smiled, “But now you want too?”

Nico rolled his eyes, “But now I _have_ to.”

Will dropped his smile but didn’t feel incredibly disheartened. After all, the lines on Nico’s face weren’t as hard as they usually were and at least he was outside and breathing fresh air with a sour look on his face instead of scowling in his dark cabin.

Lucas began rounding up their cabin mates and going over strategy with the Athena kids once again.  He could hear every other word from where he stood but didn’t other attempting to throw in his own input. He wondered how Nico could be the only person in camp to know fluent Italian but didn’t dwell on it.

Will sighed and squinted against the sun, “I better get to my post.”  He told Nico as Lucas ended his pep talk, “You coming?”

Nico shrugged and followed him up the hill, “Nothing better to do, I guess.”

-

The game was, as expected, boring as ever.

Nico and Will shared a tree stump near where the Blue team had stashed their flag. Every few moments Will would glace around in suspense as if the action of the game was suddenly going to burst out of the trees. Will babbled on about anything he could think of as he desperately attempted to avoid the awkward silence he could feel coming on. Nico continued to give short, clipped answers to everything from questions about Italian grammar and verbs to his favorite books. Will let out a slightly frustrated sigh when Nico finally spoke up.

“I don’t understand the excitement around these games.” Nico told him as he cleaned the dirt from out from under his nails with a knife. “This isn’t the least bit exciting.”

Will rolled his eyes goodheartedly and leaned against the stump, “We’re guarding. This is boring. But you hear that?” Will gestured towards the noise of battle coming from the right of the woods, “That’s where the fun’s at.”

Nico gave him a dark, disbelieving look and looked away, “I just don’t understand how someone can live through a real war and still find pretend war fun.”

Will watched him for a second and took in the bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin. He began to understand the boy, just a little bit, and instantly fell in love with the feeling.  “You can’t dwell on that kind of stuff.” Will told him softly, “We have to move on.”

Nico didn’t answer but gave him a tiny, infinitely small nod of his head. Will bit down on the blinding smile that fought to reveal itself.

-

The Blue team, of course, won.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 coming soon 8)


	3. A l'aura mattutina, e gli arboscelli,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will wants to be mad at the world but things never work out quite the way he wants them too.

_E sovra i verdi rami i vaghi augelli  
Cantar soavemente,_

_-_

_And on the green branches the pleasant birds  
Sing softly_

Will was, predictably, up at dawn.

As head medic he was required to open up the infirmary first thing in the morning. Gods forbid that an Ares kid get in a fistfight before breakfast, or another Hypnos kid hitting their head from falling asleep in the shower.

But he was wired to a routine. He _liked_ his routine. And as he stared up at the top buck and listened to Hina – his temporary replacement as head medic – get ready for the day, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl out of bed and listen to demigods complain about how uninjured they totally were.  Instead he listened to his sister hum happily to herself for a few more minutes before he finally flipped the blankets off and climbed out of bed. He shrugged on some jeans and mumbled an excuse to Hina’s confused face, knowing full well that she wouldn’t understand a word. He was irrationally furious at her and he knew it. But right now, as stupid and petty as it was, all he wanted was to be angry for an hour or two before going back and watching his siblings do _his_ jobs.

He rubbed the smooth fabric of his shirt between his fingers and missed the rough and clean feeling of his scrubs.

It was still dark out – the sun was just beginning to flirt with the horizon and it was a nice clean warm that only foreshadowed the nice weather they were bound to have. He settled on the cool grass and let himself scowl. It felt unnatural on his face and he was a bit mad of the fact he couldn’t even get angry properly.

“Will?” a voice asked from his right, causing him to jump and spin.

“Nico?” he exclaimed before wincing at the volume of his voice. He glanced around quickly but not even the soft sounds of the dark morning seemed disrupted at his pitched voice. He squinted through the dark to stare at the half-hidden figure. He cursed the accent that wrapped around each word as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

Nico took a step out of the shadows and shifted his weight noticeably. “I was practicing my shadow traveling and…it’s easier at night. What…are you doing?”

Will stood easily and wiped the dirt off his legs, quickly and ineffectively. “Are you hurt?” he questioned, already knowing the answer and already knowing the probability of Nico lying. A heavy surge of protectiveness swept over him.

“No.” Nico answered in a low voice, confirming his theory. Will took a quick step forward and struggled to see through the darkness.  

“I’m not-”

“Your side?” Will guessed, taking in how awkwardly Nico was leaning, “Your right side?”

Nico sighed but his breath caught before it could be truly condensing, “It’s just a small cut, I fell onto a sharp branch-”

“A branch?” Will interrupted, “You can get a serious infection if you don’t clean it right. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Will ignored Nico’s protests and headed back into his cabin. With his previous mood and attempts at angst forgotten, he burst through his cabin door and – as quietly as he could – collected his own medical kit along with a small bottle of plain hand sanitizer. He gathered his things quickly and ran back outside.

Where Nico no longer was.

Will sighed and rolled his eyes, stomping off into the direction of the Hades cabin, knowing that Nico wouldn’t have dared stepping foot in the infirmary.

He pounded on the steel black door and waited, not even feeling a little bad.

“What do you want?” Nico snapped out as he opened the door. Will took it as a good sign when Nico made no attempt to fight him as Will pushed past him into the glowing green cabin.

“Don’t you have any decent lighting in here?” Will wrinkled his nose, “This must be killer on your eyes.”

“No.” Nico snapped out. Will became very, very aware of how ripped Nico’s shirt was and how much exposed lower stomach was peeking out from under the dark colored shirt.

They stood, both unwavering. Will clenching at his medical bag, Nico clenching his fists. They glared at each other and Will’s brain took the most inconvenient time-out ever to check out how nicely Nico’s pale skin looked glowing with the green light.

Nico sighed, “If I let you check out my side, will you leave? I’m exhausted.”

“Of course.” Will answered smoothly, “As long as we have some decent lighting, of course.”

Nico rolled his eyes – something he couldn’t see _because of the lighting_ – but could almost _hear_ – before gesturing to his right. “The bathroom should be fine.”

Minutes later as Nico sat on the onyx counter, and Will laid out his supplies Nico asked, “What were you doing outside, anyways?”

Will glanced up at Nico as he paused in mid-cut on the roll of bandages he had brought with him. Nico’s eyes were closed as he tipped his head back onto the mirror, and the nicer lighting seemed to only make the dark moons smeared under his eyes more noticeable. He briefly considered lying – he just needed some air, felt sick, got in a fight with a sibling, was searching the grass for an extremely rare kind of dew that only formed on the Waxing Gibbous at 5 in the morning – but gave him the truth.

“I was angry.” He answered honestly as he smeared a hefty amount of anti-biotic on the bandage.

“Angry?” Nico asked, surprise coloring his words. “Why were you angry?”

Will swallowed, “For a lot of reasons I suppose.”

Nico made a ‘go –on’ gesture and Will took a breath. “I guess I’m angry that I can’t talk to my siblings and I had to give up head consoler. And that I can’t run my own infirmary or play capture the flag. I’m mad that I’m scared Lucas or Hina are going to be better at my jobs then I am.” Will took a sterile cloth, dampened slightly with alcohol, and began to dap gently at his wound. Nico stiffened but gave no other indication he was in pain. “I’m mad at how mad I am.” Will said and let out a small, bitter laugh that was unnatural to him even to his own ears.

“You have a good accent.” Nico told him suddenly. He glanced up in surprise but Nico stared straight ahead as if he hadn’t said anything, only his cheeks reddened only a slight as the attention.

“I…do?” Will questioned, more than surprised.

Nico nodded and relaxed a bit, “It’s almost as good as mine.”

Will laughed at that, “ _Almost.”_ He teased, “I’ve never heard your Italian so who knows, you _may_ be lying.”

He remembered he was suppose to be cleaning Nico’s cut – that really wasn’t that bad at all now that all the dried blood was cleared away. Not that Will would ever admit that to the other boy.

Nico opened his eyes and gave him an unimpressed look, _“Pensi di parlare in italiano meglio di me?"_

Will blinked. “I…have no idea what you just said. Wow, this curse doesn’t even come with some sort of magic translator for me. I am dull fully unimpressed.”

Nico grinned a bit before leaning back onto the mirror and closing his eyes. He looked so young and weary under the bright light. Maybe that was why he preferred the dark.

“I’ve always wanted to learn another language.” Will told him absent mindedly as he finished cleaning the cut. “I always thought probably Latin, mostly because everything ever medical has to do with the Latin language, but I wanted to learn Spanish too. And French.” He grinned to himself, “And, after being exposed to your extremely colorful foreign language, Italian.”

“It’s weird having someone to talk to in Italian.” Nico remarked, talking more to himself then Will, “It used to just be me and Bianca.”

Will bit his lip and felt like he was being let through a door he never even knew existed. Never even knew he would be handed the key to. He felt his heart double in size for the other boy.

“Maybe…” Will started, “Maybe when this is all over…you can teach me.”

Nico opened his eyes again and watched him with his dark eyes for a moment. “That would be okay.”

Will beamed and finished up the bandage quickly, noticing how heavy his eyelids felt. The warm and dark atmosphere of the Hades cabin seemed to be getting to him – but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

“All finished.” Will announced as he collected his kit, “And no more practicing without someone around! I can’t have my only translator getting impaled by a bush or something the next time he runs into the forest.”  

Nico scowled but it didn’t quite reach his exhausted eyes. He watched Will pack up, offering no help, and Will asking for none. 

“I’ll see you later.” He muttered quickly and quietly as Will left.

Will grinned at the blushing sky. The early morning was finally starting to arrive and its soundtrack was just beginning to play – a collection of yawning and shuffling demi-gods, birds chirping, and soft chatter from no particular direction. “See you later, di Angelo.”

He didn’t get mad at the sound of his Italian anymore. I mean, how could you when it wrapped around a name _like that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if Nico's Italian is extremely terrible or something. It translates to: You think you have better Italian then me? 
> 
> Or at least it's suppose to translate that way...
> 
> EDIT: Thank you to caroline for correcting my italian!


	4. Ecco mormorar l'onde,

 

Ecco mormorar l'onde,  
E tremolar le fronde  
A l'aura mattutina, e gli arboscelli,

-

Now the waves murmur  
And the boughs and the shrubs tremble  
in the morning breeze,

 

After sleeping through breakfast and lunch it was safe to say that Will was _absolutely_ starving once he woke up.

The usual cure to this usual dilemma would be to simply sneak into the kitchens and bribe whoever poor demigod was on dish duty into passing him a sandwich or two. But the past few weeks the kitchen staff has been still recovering from an unfortunate prank, courtesy of the Hermes kids, involving a truly horrific amount of laxatives. Now, the mess hall and kitchen are under strict protection and security detail (Read as: Ares kids standing at the doors with their chests out and intimidating weapons cradled in their hands.)

Will’s stomach rumbled again and he felt himself falling to unappealing temptations. He gave up any pride he had left, not much after these past few days, and left his cabin with a whiteboard and a few crumbled bills smashed into his pockets.

-

“The price will be steep, young lad.” Connor Stoll told him gravely, “Also, we’re out of Cool Ranch Doritos till Tuesday.”

Connor, along with Travis’s help, pulled out a large, metal suitcase from under a bunk bed and flipped it open with a click. Shiny logos and crinkly cellophane greeted him from the open case, some logos foreign to him, and some names written in languages he couldn’t even begin to guess. Will scribbled his order down and unzipped his backpack as he handed off the board to Travis.

Travis nodded as he looked over the writing and started to sort through the contraband. “Sorry about the curse, by the way.”  He mentioned casually as he examined the foreign logo of a chip bag….Japanese, maybe?

Connor nodded as he pulled out a separate bag and began pulling out cans of soda and juice packets. “Yeah, it was only supposed to last a few hours. Maybe a day.”

Will shrugged, “It’s not that bad.” He told them, mostly just to watch their faces screw up in confusion.

They didn’t question him as they finished his order, only handing him his order when they found it. Soon, with a full backpack and the rest of the suitcase packed up and stored away, Will handed off his crumpled bills only to watch in confusion when Travis pushed them away.

“Curse discount.” He grinned at Will, “It’s on the house. Or cabin. Whatever, anyways, sorry.”

Will held his fist out – another gesture unable to be lost in translation – and grinned back at the brother as Travis bumped their fists.

“Thanks!” Will waved as he left, the brothers smiling when the simple Italian was not lost on them.

-

“Hello!” Will greeted as he pushed past the darkened figure, “Oh gods, I need to get you a lamp or something, it looks like a vampire lives in here. Anyways, I didn’t know what to get you so I just went with a classic PBJ and chips, you’re not allergic to anything, right?” he scoffed before he could stop himself and corrected himself, “Wait, of course not, I would know. Well, if you don’t like PBJ I brought a nice, hearty ham and cheese and some juice boxes, any preferences?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Will blinked up at Nico from where he’d settled himself on Nico’s bed – or at least assuming so because of the rumpled sheets. He had began to unpack their lunch but paused with a bag of chips dangling from his fingers.

“You, uh, missed lunch.” Will licked his lips nervously and flicked his eyes away from Nico’s squinting eyes.  Will noticed his loose pajama pants and how warm the sheets were.

“What?” Nico questioned, looking too sleepy and confused for his own good. His voice was raspy with sleep and Will tried very hard not to think about that.

“You weren’t at lunch because you were sleeping, right?” Will settled the chips down on the bed but contemplated just packing up the whole lunch.

“Uh, yeah. I was really tired, I guess.”

“I did too. I mean, I was tired too and slept through lunch and I didn’t see you around and I was starving so I figured you were hungry too so I got you – us- some food. But I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Will scrambled around, grabbing the chips and shoving them back into his bag, “I can leave, I’m sorry, I totally thought you were awake, I can go just give me a few –“ Will’s words slurred together with his accent, sounding more like a jumble of random noises then actual words.

Nico seemed to understand though, and he stepped forward, stopping Will as he hurried to throw everything in his backpack as fast as he could. “I could go for food.”

The flickering green flame flickered across his pale skin. “I’m actually kind of starving.” He reassured Will, gesturing for him to lay out the foods again. A something of a smile crossed his face, “just in time, honestly.”

Will smiled sweetly before slowly bringing back out the sandwiches and passing one to Nico’s open hand. Nico settled back on the bed with a bounce and immediately began unwrapping the food. The casket-like beds were much more comfortable then Will would have guessed.

Will leaned back onto the wall, the dark metal not as cold as he expected. He shifted a hand through his open backpack. “Apple or Grape juice?”  He asked Nico, reaching to pull the juice boxes out.

“Apple.” He mumbled around a mouthful of peanut butter. Will tossed it to him and grinned, mostly at Nico’s bedhead.

“How’s your cut?” He half asked, half demanded as he started to chew on his own sandwich.

“Nonexistent.” 

He rolled his eyes, “Does it burn? Itch? Any oozing?”

“Will,” Nico groaned, and Will really _, really_ tried not to think about that, “I just woke up and I’m eating. Don’t talk to me about oozing.”

Will shrugged, “You get used to it.” Then he grinned, “What, the Ghost King can’t handle a little medical talk?”

“It’s disgusting!” He protested, looking soft and messy under the dim light.

Will snorted, “I _dare_ you to spend a single day in the infirmary! You wouldn’t be able to last an hour if that’s what disgusts you!” He challenged, taking a mouthful of chips.

“Maybe I will.” He shot back, too quietly. Will looked away, the moment too tense and too full. He took another bite of something, mostly just to have an excuse not to be the one to break the silence.

While he chewed he leaned back even farther so he could tip his shoes off the side of the bed and curl his feet up on the bed. He snuggled deeper into the dark red sheets and tried to suck all the warmth out of them he could.

Huh. Maybe _he_ was vampire in this scenario.

“Hmm.” He hummed, his body warm and his hungry stomach soothed under the blankets, “This is nice.”

The green flame lighting was terrible for everyday eyesight, and Will would be bothering Chiron for improvements _immediately,_ but it would be hard to admit that they weren’t nice to lull him into a warm, relaxed state.

He heard Nico snort from behind him and wondered if he did something embarrassing, like sit on a sandwich or had something smeared on his face.

 Will peeked an eye open, “What?”

“I’ve got a boy in my bed.” Nico voice shook with laughter, “Bianca would have laughed her ass off if she could see me now.”

He didn’t erupt in giggles, but it was close enough. He snorted around his next words, “Bianca would have liked you. Well, she liked everyone, but she always liked the few friends I could make at the casino.” His soft smile faded a bit but still shadowed around the corners of his mouth, “It got harder at the academy, making friends, but Italy and Lotus Flower…they were good. Things got tense once we moved to D.C. but I was too young to really know why.”

Will didn’t dare to move or even speak; too scared to test the fragile ice he felt they were on. Of course Will knew about Bianca, and he even knew a bit about Nico’s impossibly long life, mostly because of his unbelievable medical records. He knew bits and pieces about the Lotus Flower Casino, but those stories were Percy’s, always told from Percy’s view, who was only in there for a few hours/days. Will was suddenly hit with how… _old_ Nico was. How much he’d lived and forgotten, and how much he’d yet to live. Hell, if they were going to go by technical ages, Will was older then Nico.

Nico continued to talk, as if he wasn’t causing a train wreck of emotion inside Will, “I don’t remember much about my mom, or Italy. Just little pieces, mostly fed to me by Bianca who remembered a lot more. Like my mom’s lace gloves, and how they felt on my cheeks. She had these really tall silk heels she would wear to church.” He breathed deeply, “The rough stone of the fountain in front of our house, and the open market they would have in town, with everyone yelling and all these animals and foods and colors everywhere. I remember mom would braid Bianca’s hair, and I would hold the pieces of silk she would weave.” Will listened, and didn’t comment, “I used to wish my hair was as long as Bianca’s so mom would spend time braiding _my_ hair.” Nico snorted and shifted his weight so he was lying on the bed too, “I would scream when she would come at me with scissors. She never figured out why.”

Nico’s warm weight was pressed against Will’s side, and Will tried very hard not to mess up the moment.

“Did you fall asleep?” Nico asked, softly – much more softly then Will had ever heard him speak.

“I’m awake. I’m listening.”

Nico sped off after confirmation, and continued to tell him his stories about the casino and the hot air balloon he once rode. About his father’s visits to their hotel, and the gifts he would always bring his children. He talked quietly, and quickly, like he was scared the words wouldn’t make it out. Will wondered who the last person was who Nico trusted with these stories, and where they were now.

Half words were stumbled on and few stories were left unfinished as he got distracted explaining vague details. Will said nothing and just listened to the sound of Nico’s voice, and mentally painted all the images he could while enjoying the feeling of their tangled legs. He listened to everything he could, like the abandon chips giving the occasional crinkle at the shift of their weights, and the beat of silence every time Nico would cut himself off in the middle of a story to ask,

“Are you awake?”

“Yes.”

And then he was off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of this story, Nico was not bathed in the River Lethe.


	5. Ch'ogni arso cor ristaura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S DONE IT'S FINALLY DONE OH GODS

L'aura è tua messaggera, e tu de l'aura  
Ch'ogni arso cor ristaura.

-

The breeze is your messenger, and you the breeze's  
Which revives each burnt-out heart

The birds were chirping and the air was fragrant with lava molten and fresh strawberries. The faint scent of motor oil drifted over from the Hephaestus cabin and strong perfume accented the air from across from the Aphrodite. Will took a deep breath and enjoyed the mixture of color that was dancing around in his nose. He wasn’t due anywhere for a while – the only thing on his agenda today was meeting Nico later – where he was going to introduce Will to Mythomagic. His thoughts drifted to the other boy and he was startled by a voice yelling his name – his brother came running up beside him, a large grin in place.

“Will! Has someone told you?” Lucas exclaimed beside him, gripping his shoulder.

Will stopped and cocked his head to the side. He didn’t have his white board with him so it seemed Lucas would just have to settle for body language.

“The Hecate cabin just finished the cure!” Lucas beamed, “Chiron is looking it over, making sure it’s safe, and then he’s gonna call you in!”

Will grinned and nodded excitedly, “ _Bene!”_

Lucas twisted up his face, “That means _good_ , right?” At Will’s enthusiastic nod he pumped his fist into the air, “Hell yeah! I knew eighth grade Spanish would come in handy!”

Will laughed and high fived his brother before running off to Nico’s cabin, his own wide grin now in place.

-

“Nico! Did you hear? Chiron said the cure is almost done!” Will announced happily as he entered the cabin. He stopped mid step when he didn’t immediately spot the other boy. “Nico?” he questioned.

“In here!” came Nico’s voice from the brightly lit bathroom.

“Are you okay?” Will immediately questioned before he pushed into the space. He never really was one for respecting ‘privacy’ or ‘personal boundaries.’

Will froze as he stepped onto the tile, his throat drying up. Nico stood a few feet from him, his back facing Will as he inspected his cut in the mirror. His loose, black tank top was rolled up over his shoulder as he peeled the bandage back to look at it closely. His cheeks were flushed pink and his dark hair hung loosely around his ears.

Will look a steadying breath before speaking, “You should let it breathe for a bit – it’s been covered up since yesterday morning.”

Nico shot a soft grin over his shoulder, “As you wish, _Doctor Solace_.” He teased before throwing the bandage in the trash. He poked at it and made a face.

Will let out a breathy laugh – still focused on the movement of Nico’s back muscles as he stretched to get a good look in the mirror.

“What were saying when you walked in?” Nico questioned absentmindedly.

“Oh, um,” Will looked away so he could clear his mind for a moment. Immediately, he felt the urge to look back and commit the scene to memory. “Lucas came and told me some good news a few minutes ago.”

“Oh?” Nico prompted.

“Yeah,” Will smiled, the excitement of being able to, you know, communicate with his friends and family coming back all at once. “Apparently they’re almost done with the cure.”

Nico froze, “The cure?”

Will nodded, “The Hecate cabin is finished with it but Chiron wants to look it over. Maybe it’ll be done by tonight.” He beamed

Nico pulled his tank top back over his torso before turning to face Will – and Will took a single moment to mourn the loss. “Oh yeah.” Nico voice was soft, and airy, “You were cursed.”

Will nodded, feeling a little confused. Even his words – light and full of curves and accents – held a faint note of confusion. “Yeah, remember? It’s kind of why I’ve been dragging you around 24/7 to play translator for me?”

Nico looked away, “Yeah. I remember.”

“This is good.” Will told him, “Now I won’t have to bug you every time I need to yell at Lucas for favoring the older kids when we’re doing chores or something.” He gave Nico a delicate smile, “I can go back to working the infirmary.”

Nico seemed to snap out of whatever mood overcame him, “Yeah!” He gave Will a stiff tightening of his lips, “This is great!” Nico took a step forward and brushed past Will so he could enter the dimly lit cabin.

“What’s wrong?” Will questioned, following him into the room.

“Nothing!” Nico told him, his voice too high. He hurried around his room, his hands dancing over the open space as he looked for something. He seemed to find it – a heavy bounded book with Greek text printed across it. “You know, Chiron asked me to look this over a few weeks ago – some kind of old death ritual that might help the soul rest better - and I’ve just been ignoring it so maybe I should get to it.”

Will bit his lip, “I can go grab some medical texts? We can read together?”

Nico shook his head, fast and sharp, “I shouldn’t have any distractions.”

“What about Mythomagic?” Will tried again, “I thought you were gonna teach me today?”

“It’s just a stupid card game.” Nico muttered to himself, gripping the hardcover of the book.

“Oh – okay.” Will nodded slowly, “Well, uh – I’ll be in my cabin? If you need me?”

Nico gave him a weak salute before settling into his bed and cracking open the book – to a seemingly random page – and ignoring Will entirely.  

Will stepped out of the Hades cabin, shutting the door after him quietly. He stood on the step for a long moment, confusion and hurt still swirling around in him before he made a quick, edging on rash decision.

“No.” He announced, bursting back into the cabin. “ _Nope_. You are not allowed to do this. You’re not allowed to shut me out for gods know why reasons.” Will stomped over to Nico’s bed and flopped down beside him. “So you can either tell me why you’re upset or you can teach me Mythomagic. Those are the options.”

 “Just get out, Will.” Nico told him, not enough force behind the words. His eyes were red and his voice was raspy. “It’s not like you want to be here anyways.”

“What?” Will squinted at him, “Is that what you think? What could make you think that?”

Nico pulled his legs up to him, curling into himself, but said nothing.

“Wait…” Will thought back to their conversation, “Is this because I’m excited for the cure?”

“Of course not, Will.” Nico told him, his voice weary.

Will licked his lips and asked softly, “Is it because all of this happened _because_ I was cursed?”

Nico didn’t respond, instead choosing to focus on his reading, but his eyes were unmoving.

“Nico,” Will searched for the words to say, “Just because I’m cursed doesn’t mean I don’t like hanging out with you. I could have just stayed in my cabin the whole time but I…I like hanging out with you.” Will licked his lips, “And that doesn’t mean that we’ll stop hanging out when I’m cursed. Yeah, probably not as much because I’ll be back in the infirmary but we’ll hang out.”

Nico glanced back to him and his eyes were open and vulnerable, “Are you sure?”

Will stared at him – at his damp, dark eyes and his pursed lips, lightly flushed cheeks, and his jutting cheekbones and made one more rash decision for the day.

Nico leaned away immediately; his hand coming up to cover the lips that Will’s had just brushed. His eyes were wide and startled and horror immediately began to pour into Will.

“Oh my gods.” Will jumped from the bed like it was made of lava, “Oh my gods, I’m so sorry. I am so so sorry, oh my gods.” Will began to take steps back, his hands coming to pull at his hair, “I am always preaching on getting 101 percent consent before doing anything and I couldn’t even follow my own teachings, oh my gods, I am so sorry.”  

Will reached for the doorknob and fell out the doorway, stumbling down the steps into the grass. He laid there, contemplating the mistake he made and what he just ruined.

“Will!” His brother’s voice called for him, “Hey! We’ve been looking for you everywhere! The cure’s ready!”

Will looked up, his eyes wide with emotion. He nodded, taking Lucas’s arm, and followed him numbly to the Big House.

-

The potion was dark brown and tasted like metallic and dirt and a hint of mustard and vinegar.

 Yet, it still tasted better then the disgust for himself that lingered on his tongue.

-

He smiled weakly at his siblings, his littlest brother holding onto his leg tightly.

“Will’s back!” Amos grinned, exposing his window smile. His front tooth was just considering starting to grow back in.

Will nodded and tried to give them a happy expression, “I’m glad to be back.”

They all grinned in excitement at his English, chatter breaking out in all spaces of the packed cabin.

“I am _so_ glad you’re back.” Hina grinned at him, “Being head medic is _way_ too much reasonability.” She reached over to ruffle his hair, “I prefer to watch and learn.”

Will cracked a smile at that. “You prefer to sit in the back and read magazines with your girlfriend.” He reminded her.

She popped her gum, “Damn straight.” She agreed. She squinted at him for a moment before grabbing onto his sleeve and pulling him into a corner of their cabin. “What’s up with you? You should be ecstatic. You can talk again!” She observed him for a moment, “You look like that time Lucas set the forest on fire during Capture the Flag.”

Will rolled his eyes but even to him it was weak. He took a deep breath and met her steady gaze before spilling everything.

“That’s it?” she snorted, messing with her dark colored braid, “Okay, _first,_ you need to calm down and stop feeling like you murdered someone. It was a peck – a chaste kiss. And yes, consent is always necessary, but have you stopped to think for a moment that perhaps he was just surprised?” She blew a bubble with her gum. It smelt like green apples.

“I…I guess, maybe?” Will recalled the startled look Nico had given him, “He was pretty…shocked.”

“You haven’t let him grow into his gay-dar yet.” Hina told him sympathetically. Before Will could argue that that wasn’t actually a thing, she continued, “He probably had _no_ idea you were into him.”

“I was sending out some pretty thick signals.” He told her, leaning his head onto her shoulder. She bummed her shoulder up and he grinned.

She waved her hand in a dismissing manner. “Go talk to him. Work it out. Get laid.” She stopped, holding her finger in the air, “ _Buuut_ it doesn’t have to be in that order.”

Will laughed, pushing himself off the wall. “Thanks Hina. I’ll go talk to him. You’re a lifesaver.”

She held her hand up to give him a finger wave and her sparkly nail polish glittered under the lights, “You can pay me in candy and numerous favors. And tell that to Sage next time we get in a fight!”

Will smiled at her, holding up his own hand in goodbye.

The walk to the Hades cabin was familiar and shorter then he would have liked. He stood on the step for a long minute – working out what he wanted to say and what he would actually get around to saying.He knocked – something defiantly out of the ordinary for him – and waited.

A long moment passed. Well, at least he gave a warning.

He cracked the door open, peering around the cabin slowly. Empty, surprisingly. He took a step inside so he could check the bathroom and frowned.

He left and walked the camp grounds for a few more long minutes. Anxiety began to bubble under his skin.

“Hey - ” He grabbed the wrist of a familiar blond, “Jason, have you seen Nico around?”

Jason shot him a confused look, “He left like, an hour ago. Didn’t he say bye?”

“What? He left? Where?” Will’s voice pitched high with his panic.

Jason took his wrist back and held his hands up defensively, “Hey, calm down. He shadow traveled over to Camp Jupiter real quick, said he had to talk to Hazel. He asked Pipes and I if we needed anything, or wanted send anything over to Reyna or any of them.”

“And you let him?!” He exclaimed, “He’s not healed enough for a trip that far! Shouldn’t you have checked with his doctor first?”

Jason took a step back, “Whoa, dude, look, he said it was cool with you. He should be back any minute anyways, just ask him then. I gotta go, I’m in charge of leading Arts and Crafts which started like, 5 minutes ago and I’m already wincing thinking about what the Hermes kids did with the scissors and pipe cleaners in that time.”

He waved goodbye quickly, leaving Will to his worry and thoughts. Will swallowed and headed towards the Hades cabin – he had to come home sometimes, right?

-

He did have to come home sometime. It happens that that sometime was an hour and a half later.

He didn’t seem surprised when he opened up his cabin door and Will sat on his bed. Will looked up – his eyes tired from the dim light and his legs numb from dangling over the metal casket like bed frame. Nico stood in the open doorway, shadowed by the now dark sky. The moon glowed on his pale skin and Will’s heart squeezed on itself.

“I just needed to talk to Hazel.” He shut the door behind him and threw his jacket onto the floor.

Will gave him a wide-eyed look, “Do you _not_ know how to Iris Message?”

“You got the cure.” He stated before turning to him to give him a hard look, “And _Of course I do,_ Will. But guess what? Iris is a _Greek_ god, so a Roman – a Roman such as Hazel, you know, the person I was trying to talk to too? – wouldn’t know how to Iris Message.”

Will stood and took a step forward, crossing his arms, “It’s a rainbow cloud! You talk into a rainbow cloud! How is that difficult and/or hard to grasp? And, if that doesn’t work, you could have borrowed Annabeth’s phone and called her or texted her, or send her a _fucking_ email!”

“It’s not that easy.” Nico muttered, slipping off his sneakers.

“What? Texting?” Will dug his tongue into his cheek in annoyance, “I can show you, if it’s _really_ that difficult.”

Nico locked his jaw, “Who cares? I just had to talk to her, okay?”

“’Who cares?’” Will exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, “I do, you idiot! You could have died or gotten really hurt!”

They stood there – staring at each other both wanting the other to look away first. Anger and tension spilled into the air and left a mess of each other’s emotions. Will was breathing heavy while Nico glared with all his might.

Nico was the first to break – but he didn’t look away. Instead he surged forward, grabbing Will’s face and pulling it to his.

“Whoa-whoa- _wait.”_ Will pulled away for a moment, his eyes wide. The tension was sucked from the air and was replaced with something…hotter. “You’re not mad I kissed you?”

“What? No.” Nico’s eyebrows pushed together. “You thought that?”

“Well-uh,” Will scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “Maybe?”

Nico huffed out a laugh before pulling Will in for another kiss, “We’re going to talk about this.” Will told him as Nico dragged him over to the bed.

Nico hummed in agreement, digging his blunt nails into Will’s shoulders.

“You need to keep yourself safe.” He moaned into Nico’s neck, his hand finding its way into the back pocket of Nico’s jeans.

“Yeah, sure.” Nico agreed, sinking his teeth into Will’s lower lip.

 “You can’t run away when we have a fight.” Will muttered against his lips.

“Okay.” Nico breath washed over Will’s warm, flushed cheeks.

“And if something’s bothering you, you have to tell me.”

“Okay.” He repeated, running his hand up Will’s spine so he could twist his fingers into Will’s hair. Will shivered and fell deeper into the kiss.

“And if you practice underworld stuff you _have_ to let someone know. Preferably me, but I can’t win everything.”

Nico pulled away, and his lips were shiny and his pale cheeks were filled with color. “Is that all, Solace?”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something else.” Will told him, pulling him closer.

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Nico smiled against their lips.

-

Hina grinned as she leaned against her cabin door, a lollypop sticking out of her mouth.

“Where’s Will? He should round up the kids for bed.” Lucas asked, stealing one of her suckers and popping it into his mouth.

She smiled around her candy, “Lucas, I think you should take on Head Consoler duties for one more night. I think he’s a little preoccupied.” She nodded towards the Hades cabin.

Lucas followed her gaze and let out a low whistle, “When did that happen?”

She rolled her eyes, “When _hasn’t_ it been happening? You should have seen them dancing around each other in the infirmary when they barely knew each other.” She blew air up into her bangs, “They don’t even know how far gone they are for each other.”

Lucas laughed, “Did you meddle?”

She smirked, holding up a small bottle. “The Stoll Brothers aren’t very good at potions, are they? Anyways,” She pocketed the bottle, “I just want him to be happy. Then he doesn’t notice when I forget to buy backup supplies.”

“You’re a saint.” He teased before letting off a long whistle towards Nico and Will – who were _still_ saying goodbye on the front steps to the Hades cabin. “I’m putting the kids to bed.”

She nodded, taking a crunch to the sucker so she could get to the gum faster.

“Keep the show going boys!” She yelled through cupped hands, a moment later Will and Nico held up matching middle fingers in response.

She laughed. Maybe she would pull something on Lucas soon. Gods knew he needed some excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's such with me throughout the story! I'm so happy I finally finished it - and check out my other stuff for more Solangelo! 8)

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr for short stories and weird rambling, if that's your thing. Rosyredlipstick.tumblr.com


End file.
